Light Dairy for Shavuot

Great Shavuot dishes that will make your Yom Tov delicious and extra special.

For Shavuot, I do enjoy the treat of a dairy meal for Yom Tov. But I try and use dairy in different ways than most. I like a hint of cheese in a salad, a little sour cream in a fruit soup for tanginess, or a bit in a salad dressing to add creaminess. I avoid dishes with lots of melted cheese that have come to be expected. I like to pair lighter fish dishes and extra salads with all the dairy side dishes to create a balanced menu. Here are a few great Shavuot dishes that will make your Yom Tov delicious and extra special.

Chilled Strawberry Sour Cream Soup

This is a recipe from my great Aunt Thelma. All of her recipes were quick and easy but people loved them and this one got passed down to me through my grandmother’s old recipe file.

Serves 5

4 cups (1 quart) strawberries, cleaned and hulled

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

4 cups cold water

½ cup Rose Wine

In a blender or food processor, whirl all the ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish

Romaine Salad with Pomegranate and Jicama and Sweet Onion Dressing

Serves 10

¾ cup pomegranate seeds

2 cups sliced hearts of palm

1 small jicama, diced in ½-inch pieces

3 heads romaine lettuce, sliced

Dressing:

½ onion, grated

1 teaspoon dry mustard

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

For salad: Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

For dressing: In a small bowl, whisk onion, mustard, sugar, and salt. Puree dressing with an immersion blender. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while blending to emulsify. Stir in poppy seeds. (Alternatively, this can be done with a whisk and whisk while drizzling in olive oil).

Pour dressing on salad. Toss to coat and serve.

Chopped Kale Salad with Goat Cheese and Figs

Serves 8 – 10

This salad is a kosher copy of a treif version with prosciutto and gorgonzola cheese by Giada De Laurentiis. I love the kosher version with crispy kale and sweet cheese and figs. Perfect for Shavuos!

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon walnut oil

Salt

Pepper

10 ounces Tuscan kale, stems discarded and leaves thinly sliced

3 Belgian endives, halved, cored and thinly sliced

One 6-ounce head of radicchio, halved, cored and thinly sliced

8 fresh or dried figs, cut into wedges

4-ounce goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°. Spread the walnuts in a pie plate and bake for 8 minutes, until golden. Let cool.

In a very large bowl, whisk the mascarpone, vinegar and both oils; season with salt and pepper. Add the toasted walnuts, kale, endives, radicchio, figs and toss well. Season the salad with salt and pepper. Crumble goat cheese over the salad.

The mascarpone vinaigrette can be refrigerated overnight.

Asian Bok Choy Salad

Serves 8

Salad

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 stalk bok choy, washed and chopped

8 scallions, chopped

2 packages ramen noodles (flavor package discarded)

½ cup toasted almonds

¼ cup sesame seeds

½ cup craisins

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced

Dressing

½ cup olive oil

4 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ cup white vinegar

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Mix dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Divide dressing in half.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, cook bok choy and scallions until soft, about 4 minutes. Add ramen noodles (uncooked). Add half of dressing and heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, mix cooked bok choy/noodle mixture with almonds, sesame seeds, craisins, and romaine. Add remaining dressing, a little at a time, until fully coated. Serve immediately.

Mini Cheese Crepes with Cinnamon Pecan Cream Sauce

Serves 10

Crepes:

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

dash baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ cups milk

pinch salt

Canola oil

Filling:

1 pound farmer cheese

½ cup whipped cream cheese (4-ounces)

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

1 egg yolk

1 cup sugar

Cinnamon Pecan Topping:

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon maple syrup

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For Crepes:

In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients until smooth.

In a 6 inch sauté pan, heat ½ teaspoon oil. When oil is hot, add about 2 tablespoons batter and swirl around pan. Cook until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes, flip and cook on the other side. Remove from pan, and continue making individual crepes, using all of the batter. Cover to keep cooked crepes warm.

For Filling: In a medium sized bowl, mix all ingredients until smooth. Set aside. Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into crepe. Spread a bit, leaving a ½-inch border. Roll gently and set aside.

Salmon with Green Herbs and Lemon

Serves 6

This is an adapted recipe from Ina Garten. The herbs add flavor and the lemon gives it freshness. I added Dijon mustard and lemon zest to her original recipe. I also added the roasted lemons and squeeze the juice over the cooked salmon. Roasted sweet lemon is delicious.

1 (2- to 2 1/2-pound) salmon fillet, skin removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup good olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (4 scallions)

1/2 cup minced fresh dill

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, cut in half

1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the salmon fillet in an oven-proof dish and season it generously with salt and pepper. Whisk together the Dijon mustard, olive oil and lemon juice and drizzle the mixture evenly over the salmon. Let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the scallions, dill, and parsley. Scatter the herb mixture over the salmon fillet. Sprinkle the lemon zest all over the herbs. Pour the wine around the fish fillet. Dip the cut lemon (each half) in the sugar. Place in the pan next to the fish.

Roast the salmon for 10 to 12 minutes, until almost cooked in the center at the thickest part. The center will be firm with just a line of uncooked salmon in the very center. (I peek by inserting the tip of a small knife.) Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the salmon crosswise into serving pieces and serve hot with squeezed sugared lemon on top.

Sesame Soy Semi-Homemade Salmon

Serves 8

8 (6 ounce) salmon fillts, skin on

½ cup Mikee sesame teriyaki sauce or other brand of same variety

½ cup low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

Place salmon in a 9 x 13 glass or non-reactive dish.

In a small bowl, mix teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Pour mixture over salmon and marinade for a few hours, covered in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to broil. Broil salmon for 14 – 20 minutes, watching carefully so as not to burn. The top should be nicely browned and the interior soft but cooked through.

Flounder with Lemon Garlic Sauce

Serve 4

This can be made with flounder or sole too. It’s a simple and classic fish dish.

4 (6-ounce) flounder fillets

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup pareve chicken stock or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge both sides of fish in flour. reserve excess flour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add fish to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove from pan; keep warm.

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About the Author

Elizabeth Kurtz is the creator of gourmetkoshercooking.com and columnist for the Jerusalem Post, Aish.com, and other national magazines. She is a featured chef on videos for Recipe Box TV on aol.com and yahoo.com. She is passionate about food and entertaining and loves teaching cooking classes. Her first cookbook titled, CELEBRATE, food, family, shabbos is in stores now, on Amazon.com and "celebrates", 200 original recipes easy enough for everyday and special enough for Shabbos or any holiday. She can be reached at ekurtz@gourmetkoshercooking.com

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 3

(3)
Elliot,
June 2, 2014 4:17 PM

LOVE KALE

Thanks for the recipe w Kale. I love taking a Giada recipe and making it kosher! can't wait to try it!

(2)
Anonymous,
June 2, 2014 2:52 AM

sounds great!

I love how the strawberry sour cream soup sounds...but can you specify what can be used for "rose wine?" Thank you!

(1)
patricia chamoy,
June 1, 2014 6:38 PM

you are killing the bok choy salad!

Please don't cook the bok choy, scallions, ramen - it's a fabulous salad once they marinate in the dressing - which could use a shot of roasted sesame oil and a dash of orange juice to be simply stunning! Sliced shiitake mushrooms are a wonderful addition, again, raw. Just try it once, please....

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I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!